Marupaka Venkateshwarlu

M.A,B.Ed,L.L.B
TheLegal.co.in

Land Law
Doctrine of Escheat

Definition

Black’s Law Dictionary defines ‘escheat’ as:

1. The reversion of land ownership back to the lord when the immediate tenant dies without heirs.
2. Reversion of property (especially real property) to the state upon the death of an owner who has neither a
will nor any legal heirs.
3. Property that has so reverted.

Thus we see that Doctrine of Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who
dies without heirs to the crown or the state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in ‘ limbo’ without
recognized ownership.

Doctrine of Escheat also finds mention in Article 296 of the Constitution.

“Article 296 – Subject as hereinafter provided, any property in the territory of India which, if this Constitution
had not come into operation, would have accrued to His Majesty or, as the case may be, to the Ruler of an
Indian State by escheat or lapse, or as bona vacantia for want of a rightful owner, shall, if it is property situate
in a State, vest in such State, and shall, in any other case, vest in the Union.”

Doctrine of Escheat or bona vacantia in India

The Doctrine of bona vacantia or Escheat was declared to be a part of the law in India by the Privy Council as
early as in 1860 in Collector of Masulipatam v. Cavary Vancata Narrainappah. This case also held that the
General Law of universal application and that General Law was that “private ownership not existing, the
State must be the owner as the ultimate Lord”.

The right to acquire by way of escheat or as bona vacantia is not a creature of any Private Law of Succession
but is an attribute of Sovereignty. It is true that Statutory provisions of Private Law of Succession such
as Section 29 of Hindu Succession Act sometimes expressly recognise right of the State to acquire

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properties byescheat or as bona vacantia. But that right would have been very much there even without any
such provisions

Leasehold Land

The real estate which is the subject of a lease (a written rental agreement for an extended periodof time)
. The term is commonly used to describe improvements on real property when theimprovements are built
on land owned by one party which is leased for a long term (such as 99years) to the owner of the buildin
g. For example, the Pacific Land Company owns a lot and leasesit for 99 years to the Highrise Developme
nt Corporation which builds a 20
story apartment buildingand sells each apartment to individual owners as condominiums. At the end of t
he 99 years thebuilding has to be moved (impossible), torn down, sold to Pacific (which need not pay mu
ch sincethe building is old and Highrise has no choice), or a new lease negotiated. Obviously, toward thee
nd of the 99 years the individual condominiums will go down in value, partly from fear of lessenedresale
potential. This is generally theoretical (except to lending companies because the securitydoes not include
the land) since there are few buildings with less than 50 or 60 years to go on theleases or their expected l
ifetimes, although there are some commercial buildings which are within20 years of termination of such
leases. In most cases the buildings are obsolete by the end of theleasehold.

The Permanent Settlement(Zamindari Settlement)

Lord Cornwallis’ most conspicuous administrative measure was the Permanent Land Revenue Settlement
of Bengal, which was extended to the provinces of Bihar and Orissa. It is appropriate to recall that
Warren Hastings introduced the annual lease system of auctioning the land to the highest bidder. It
created chaos in the revenue administration.

Cornwallis at the time of his appointment was instructed by the Directors to find a satisfactory and
permanent solution to the problems of the land revenue system in order to protect the interests of both
the Company and the cultivators. It obliged the Governor-General to make a thorough enquiry into the
usages, tenures and rents prevalent in Bengal. The whole problem occupied Lord Cornwallis for over
three years and after a prolonged discussion with his colleagues like Sir John Shore and James Grant he
decided to abolish the annual lease system and introduce a decennial (Ten years) settlement which was
subsequently declared to be continuous. The main features of the Permanent Settlement were as follows:

The zamindars of Bengal were recognised as the owners of land as long as they paid the revenue to the
East India Company regularly.

The amount of revenue that the zamindars had to pay to the Company was firmly fixed and would not
be raised under any circumstances. In other words the Government of the East India Company got 89%
leaving the rest to the zamindars.

The ryots became tenants since they were considered the tillers of the soil.

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This settlement took away the administrative and judicial functions of the zamindars.

The Permanent Settlement of Cornwallis was bitterly criticised on the point that it was adopted with
‘undue haste’. The flagrant defect of this arrangement was that no attempt was made ever either to
survey the lands or to assess their value. The assessment was made roughly on the basis of accounts of
previous collections and it was done in an irregular manner. The effects of this system both on the
zamindars and ryots were disastrous. As the revenue fixed by the system was too high, many zamindars
defaulted on payments. Their property was seized and distress sales were conducted leading to their
ruin. The rich zamindars who led luxurious lives left their villages and migrated into towns.

Ryotwari Settlement

The Ryotwari settlement was introduced mainly in Madras, Berar, Bombay and Assam. Sir Thomas
Munro introduced this system in the Madras Presidency. Under this settlement, the peasant was
recognised as the proprietor of land. There was no intermediary like a Zamindar between the peasant
and the government. So long as he paid the revenue in time, the peasant was not evicted from the land.
Besides, the land revenue was fixed for a period from 20 to 40 years at a time. Every peasant was held
personally responsible for direct payment of land revenue to the government. However, in the end, this
system also failed. Under this settlement it was certainly not possible to collect revenue in a systematic
manner. The revenue officials indulged in harsh mesuares for non payment or delayed payment.

Mahalwari Settlement

In 1833, the Mahalwari settlement was introduced in the Punjab, the Central Provinces and parts of
North Western Provinces. Under this system the basic unit of revenue settlement was the village or the
Mahal. As the village lands belonged jointly to the village community, the responsibility of paying entire
Mahal or the village community. So the entire land of the village was measured at the time of fixing the
revenue.

Though the Mahalwari system eliminated middlemen between the government and the village
community and brought about improvement in irrigation facility, yet its benefit was largely enjoyed by
the government

IX th schedule of indian constitution

Ninth Schedule
After independence, zamindari abolition and land reforms laws were passed as a move towards more
egalitarian society, but the Government efforts of social engineering faced several problems, the land
legislations were challenged in the courts. The first case challenging the land law was Kameshwar Singh
V State of Bihar , in this case the Bihar Land Reforms Act 1950 was challenged on the ground that the
classification of zamindars made for the purpose for giving compensation was discriminatory and denied
equal protection of laws guaranteed to the citizen under Article 14 of the Constitution. The Patna High

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Court held this piece of legislation as violative of Article 14 as it classified the zamindars for the purpose
of payments of compensation in a discriminatory manner.
As a result of these judicial pronouncements, the Government got apprehensive that the whole agrarian
reform programmes would be endangered. To ensure that agrarian reform legislation did not run into
heavy weather, the legislature amended the Constitution in the year 1951 which inserted Ninth Schedule.

Article 31-B was inserted by the First Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1951 which states that without
prejudiced to the generality of the provisions contained in Article 31-A, none of the Acts and Regulations
specified in the Ninth Schedule nor any of the provisions thereof shall be deemed to be void, or ever to
have become void, on the ground that such Act, Regulation or provisions is inconsistent with, or takes
away or abridges any of the rights conferred by , any provisions of this part, and notwithstanding any
judgment , decree or order of any court or tribunal to the contrary, each of the said Acts and Regulations
shall, subject to the power of any competent legislature to repeal or amend it, continue in force.

Thus Article 31-B of the Constitution of India ensured that any law in the Ninth Schedule could not be
challenged in courts and Government can rationalize its programme of social engineering by reforming
land and agrarian laws. In other words laws under Ninth Schedule are beyond the purview of judicial
review even though they violate fundamental rights enshrined under part III of the Constitution. On the
one hand considerable power was given to legislature under Article 31-B and on the other hand the
power of judiciary was curtailed, this is the starting point of tussle between legislature and judiciary.

The other feature of Article 31-B is that it is retrospective in nature that is when a statute is declared
unconstitutional by a court and later it is included in the Ninth Schedule, it is to be considered as having
been in that Schedule from its commencement. Thus it provides blanket protection to all laws under the
Schedule. In case of Jeejeebhoy V Asst. Collector, Thane, the Supreme Court held that Article 31-B
represents novel, innovative and drastic technique of amendment. Legislative enactments are
incorporated into the Constitution and immunized against all attacks on the grounds of breach of any of
the Fundamental Rights.

Since 1951, the Ninth Schedule has been expanded constantly so much that today 284 Acts are included
therein. By the First Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1951 13 laws were added to the Ninth Schedule. It
was again amended by Fourth Constitutional (Amendment) Act and six more Acts were added. By the
17th Amendment Act 44 laws were added. The Constitution 29th (Amendment) Act, 1972 added 20 more
laws. In 1975, the Constitution 39th (Amendment) Act added 38 more laws. In 1976, the Constitution
42nd (amendment) Act further added 64 laws to the Ninth Schedule. The 47th Constitutional
Amendment, 1984 added more laws and the number of Acts in the Ninth Schedule rose to 202. Again in
1990 the 66th Amendment Act inserted 55 Land Reforms Acts into the Schedule. The Constitutional 76th
(Amendment) Acts 1994 has been passed by the Parliament to accommodate Tamil Nadu Government's
Legislation in the Ninth Schedule to take the legislation out of the ambit of the judicial review, which
provided 69 percent reservation for backward classes. The Constitutional 78th (Amendment) Act 1995

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again amended the Ninth Schedule and added 27 Land Reforms Laws, taking the total number of Acts to
284.

Ceiling Limit on Holding of Agricultural Land in AP(Standerd holding)

Before 1973 there is no ceiling limit on holding of any land. But, in the year 1973 the government
introduced “Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holding) Act, 1973” (Act No. 1 of
1973), popularly known as AP Land Ceiling Act. This act came into force w.e.f. 01.01.1975. Hereinafter
called as „the Act‟. This Act impose ceiling limit on holding of agricultural land.

As per Sec. 5 of the Act the ceiling limit on holding of agricultural land is as follows :

In case of wet land : 27 Acres.

In case of Double Crop wet land : 18 Acres.
In case of Dry land : 54 Acres.
In case of having both wet and dry lands, the wet extent is considered as double of the dry land for
calculating the standard holding.
Double Crop Wet Land means, any land registered as double crop or compounded double crop wet land
in land revenue records (Sec. 3 (d) of the Act).
Dry Land means, land registered as dry, manavari etc., in land revenue records (Sec. 3 (e) of the Act)

Ceiling on Non-Agricultural land holding :- There is no ceiling limit on holding of Non-Agricultural lands.
The Act is limited to agricultural lands. Once the agricultural land is purchased and converted to Non-
Agricultural purpose, the said land not come under the preview of “Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms
(Ceiling on Agricultural Holding) Act, 1973”

Requisitioned Land

(a) The expression “persons interested”, in relation to any requisitioned land, includes all person claiming
an interest in the compensation to be paid on account of the requisitioning or the acquisition of the
requisitioned land under the provisions of section 19 of the Defence of India Act, 1939 (35 of 1939), or
section 6 of the Requisitioned Land (Continuance of Powers) Act, 1947 (17 of 1947);

(b) The expression “requisitioned land” means any immovable property which is, or was, subject to any
requisition effected under the rules made under the Defence of India Act, 1939(35 of 1939), or continued
under the Requisitioned Land (Continuance of Powers) Act, 1947, (17 of 1947) {Since rep. by Act 30 of
1952.}

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Land Grabbing

Definition

The term "land grabbing" is defined as very large-scale land acquisitions, either buying or leasing. The
size of the land deal is multiples of 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) or 100,000 hectares (250,000
acres) and thus much larger than in the past.The term is itself controversial. In 2011, Borras, Hall and
others wrote that "the phrase 'global land grab' has become a catch-all to describe and analyze the
current trend towards large scale (trans)national commercial land transactions. Ruth Hall wrote
elsewhere that the "term 'land grabbing', while effective as activist terminology, obscures vast
differences in the legality, structure, and outcomes of commercial land deals and deflects attention from
the roles of domestic elites and governments as partners, intermediaries, and beneficiaries.

Absolute and Limited Ownership

An absolute owner is the one in whom are vested all the rights over a thing to the exclusion of all. When
all the rights of ownership, i.e. possession, enjoyment and disposal are vested in a person without any
restriction, the ownership is absolute. But when there are restrictions as to user, duration or disposal,
the ownership will be called a limited ownership. For example, prior to the enactment of the Hindu
Succession Act, 1956, a woman had only a limited ownership over the estate because she held the
property only for her life and after her death; the property passed on to the last heir or last holder of the
property. Another example of limited ownership in English law is life tenancy when an estate is held only
for life.

CONCLUSION
We may in conclusion say that:
1. Ownership is a right which comprise of powers, claims, privileges etc.
2. Ownership is in respect of a thing may be corporeal or incorporeal
3. The right relating to or connection with ownership are subject to the state regulation i.e. can be
limited or restricted by law
4. Owner is he who is entitled to the residue of rights with respect to an object left after the limitation
resulting from the voluntary acts of the owner or those imposed by law are exhausted
5. Ownership does not imply or indicate absolute or unlimited rights either use, disposal or duration.

CHARACTERISTICS OF OWNERSHIP
An analysis of the concept of ownership, it would show that it has the following characteristics:
Ownership ma either be absolute or restricted, that is, it may be exclusive or limited. Ownership can be
limited by agreements or by operation of law.
The right of ownership can be restricted in time of emergency. For example, building or land owned by a
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person can be acquired by the state for lodging army personnel during the period of war.
An owner is not allowed to use his land or property in a manner that it is injurious to others. His right of
ownership is not unrestricted.
The owner has a right to posses the thing that he owns. It is immaterial whether he has actual
possession of it or not. The most common example of this is that an owner leasing his house to a tenant.
Law does not confer ownership on an unborn child or an insane person because they are incapable of
conceiving the nature and consequences of their acts.
Ownership is residuary in character.
The right to ownership does not end with the death of the owner; instead it is transferred to his heirs.
Restrictions may also be imposed by law on the owner’s right of disposal of the thing owned. Any
alienation of property made with the intent to defeat or delay the claims of creditors can be set aside.

Land reform

There are four main categories of reforms:

Abolition of intermediaries (rent collectors under the pre-Independence land revenue system);

Tenancy regulation (to improve the contractual terms including security of tenure);

A ceiling on landholdings (to redistributing surplus land to the landless);

Attempts to consolidate disparate landholdings

Definition of compensation

1a : the act of compensating : the state of being compensatedb : correction of an organic defect or loss
by hypertrophy or by increased functioning of another organ or unimpaired parts of the same organc : a
psychological mechanism by which feelings of inferiority, frustration, or failure in one field are
counterbalanced by achievement in another

2a (1) : something that constitutes an equivalent or recompense Age has its compensations. Moving to
the coast had some drawbacks, but there were also compensations. (2) : payment to unemployed or
injured workers or their dependents receivingcompensation from his employer

b : payment, remuneration working without compensation

Ryot
Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, rait or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant
cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were
tenants and cultivators, and served as hired labour.
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A raiyat was defined as someone who has acquired a right to hold land for the purpose of cultivating it,
whether alone or by members of his family, hired servants, or partners. It also referred to succession
rights.

Classifications

Under the Mughal system of land control there were two types of raiyats: khudkasta and paikasta. The
khudkasta raiyats were permanent resident cultivators of the village. Their rights in land were heritable
according to Muslim and Hindu laws of succession. The other type of raiyats was called paikasta. They did
not cultivate land on a permanent basis in any particular mauza (lowest revenue plus village settlement
unit), but instead moved from mauza to mauza and engaged themselves for a crop season. In terms of
revenue, the paikasta raiyats were generally paid a much lower rate of rent than the khudkashta raiyats.
The dividend to the khudkasta, who thus became an absentee owner, came from hard bargaining.
Pahikasht raiyats were a subgroup of peasants who cultivated the land away from the area where they
[4]

resided

Doctrine of bona vacantia

Doctrine of Escheat or bona vacantia in India

The Doctrine of bona vacantia or Escheat was declared to be a part of the law in India by the Privy
Council as early as in 1860 in Collector of Masulipatam v. Cavary Vancata Narrainappah. This case also
held that the General Law of universal application and that General Law was that “private ownership not
existing, the State must be the owner as the ultimate Lord”.

The right to acquire by way of escheat or as bona vacantia is not a creature of any Private Law of
Succession but is an attribute of Sovereignty. It is true that Statutory provisions of Private Law of
Succession such as Section 29 of Hindu Succession Act sometimes expressly recognise right of the State to
acquire properties byescheat or as bona vacantia. But that right would have been very much there even
without any such provisions.

The case of Pierce Leslie and Co. Ltd. v. Violet Ouchterlong Waoshar categorically states that:

“Property of an intestate dying without leaving lawful heirs and the property of a dissolved Corporation
passes to the Government by escheat or as bona vacantia". And relying on this decision, the Supreme
Court in Narendra Bahadur Tandon v. Shanker Lal, has reiterated that "in India the law is well-settled
that the property of an intestate dying without leaving lawful heirs, and the property of a dissolved
Corporation, passes to the Government by escheat or as bona vacantia" and that "if the Company had a
subsisting interest in the lease on the date of dissolution, such interest much necessarily vest in the
Government by escheat or as bona vacantia.”

It is not only the tangible property that comes within the ambit of Doctrine of Escheat or bona vacantia.
The word ‘property’, when used without any qualification or limitation, as above, is a term of the widest
import. In the case of J.K. Trust v. Commissioner of Income Tax, it was stated that “Property signifies

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every possible interest which a person may acquire”. There should, therefore, be no doubt that the
expression ‘property’ used without any qualification or limitation would even include a tenant's interest
in the demised land or premises. The interest of a Tenant is usually heritable as well as transferable and
it would be trite to say that only owner of a property, however limited, can transfer or transmit the same.
This reasoning was upheld in the case of Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay v. Lala Pancham,
wherein it was held that the tenant has, under the Transfer of Property Act or the Rent Control
Legislations, an interest in the demised premises which would squarely fall within the expression
‘property’.

Land Acquisition act 1894-(2013)

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Act, 2013 (also Land Acquisition Act, 2013) is an Act of Indian Parliament that regulates land acquisition
and lays down the procedure and rules for granting compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to the
affected persons in India. The Act has provisions to provide fair compensation to those whose land is
taken away, brings transparency to the process of acquisition of land to set up factories or buildings,
infrastructural projects and assures rehabilitation of those affected. The Act establishes regulations for
land acquisition as a part of India's massive industrialisation drive driven by public-private partnership.
The Act replaced the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a nearly 120-year-old law enacted during British rule.

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7
September 2011.The bill was then passed by it on 29 August 2013 and by Rajya Sabha on 4 September
2013. The bill then received the assent of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 27 September
2013.The Act came into force from 1 January 2014.

An amendment bill was then introduced in Parliament to endorse the Ordinance. Lok Sabha passed the
bill but the same is still lying for passage by the Rajya Sabha. On 30 May 2015, President of India
promulgated the amendment ordinance for third time.

Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of the Act include:

To ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas established under
the Constitution of India, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition
for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least
disturbance to the owners of the land and other affected families
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Provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to
be acquired or are affected by such acquisition

Make adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and resettlement

Ensure that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become
partners in development leading to an improvement in their post acquisition social and economic status
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto

Definition of 'land owner'

The Act defines the following as land owner

person whose name is recorded as the owner of the land or building or part thereof, in the records of the
authority concerned; or

person who is granted forest rights under The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or under any other law for the time being in force; or

Person who is entitled to be granted Patta rights on the land under any law of the State including
assigned lands; or

any person who has been declared as such by an order of the court or Authority

Limits on acquisition
The Act forbids land acquisition when such acquisition would include multi-crop irrigated area. However
such acquisition may be permitted on demonstrable last resort, which will be subjected to an aggregated
upper limit for all the projects in a District or State as notified by the State Government. In addition to the
above condition, wherever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired an equivalent area of cultivable
wasteland shall be developed by the state for agricultural purposes. In other type of agricultural land,
the total acquisition shall not exceed the limit for all the projects in a District or State as notified by the
Appropriate Authority. These limits shall not apply to linear projects which includes projects for railways,
highways, major district roads, power lines, and irrigation canals

Land Reforms In India After Independence

There was need for Land Reforms in India after Independence. India is primarily an agricultural country
and its importance in economy is enormous. More than fifty percent of Indians live in villages, and in a
village economy the ownership of land is of crucial importance. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian
economy. This sector provides livelihood to allow 70% of our workforce, contributes nearly 32% of Net
National product and accounts for a sizeable share of total value of the country’s exports.

During March 1992, all relevant aspects of land reforms and land records management were discussed at
a conference of state revenue ministers under the Chairmanship of the then Prime Minister. This

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discussion was entirely on distribution of surplus land. It was decided that all available surplus land free
from encumbrances might be distributed by 30th June, 1992. It was also decided that 75% of the land
involved in litigation in revenue courts must he cleared and be distributed accordingly. In addition,
certain other recommendations like Bhoodan Land were also made. The lands which were distributed
under the ceiling laws were of very poor quality. A sum of Rs 2,500 per hectare had been given to the
assignees.

After the abolition of the Zamindari system some major reforms like ceiling on land holdings, tenancy
reform and consolidation of holdings have effected a big change in village economy. Our land reforms
suffer from many lacunae and loopholes and as a result reforms are far from satisfactory. Due to inter-
mediator, distribution of land among the poor and landless farmers is very trouble-some. There is a big
lobby of rich and influential farmers and a huge amount of black money is at work against the land
reforms and the interests of poor, landless farmers and share croppers. The corruption prevailing in
enforcement agencies further worsens the situation.

Therefore, progress of land reforms of India is not satisfactory; it is on mere paper and in reports than in
reality. Government should also look into the matter that random sale of agricultural land to the foreign
and India’s industrialists must be avoided keeping in view the possible food problem in the near future

Ap land reforms act 1973

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS OF THE ACT :

(i) “Standard Holding”

means extent of land specified in Section 5. In the case of family unit consisting not more than
(5) five members, it ranges from 10 to 27 acres in respect of wet lands and from 35 to 54 acres
in respect of dry lands, based on the classification of lands in the first schedule.

(ii) “Ceiling Area”

a) In the case of family unit consisting of not more than five members, an extent of land equal to one
standard holding.

b) In the case of family unit consisting of more than five members, land equal to one standard holding
plus one fifth of standard holding for every additional member, not exceeding two standard holdings vide
Section 4(1) and (2).

(iii) Increase of ceiling area in certain cases : As per Section 4-A, in respect of a major son of a family
unit, who holds no extent or an extent of land less than the ceiling area, the existing area is to be
increased equal to the ceiling area applicable.

(iv) Constitution of Tribunals: Government are empowered to constitute as many Tribunals as necessary
for implementation of the Act, as per the provisions contained in Section -6.

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(v) Special provisions in respect of certain transfers etc., already done: Burden of proof lies on person
who on or after 24-1-1971 but before the notified date has transferred any land by sale etc., In case such
person has not proved such transfer is to be disregarded. 4

(vi) Declaration of Holding: Under Section 8 every person whose holding on the notified date exceeds
the specified limits shall within thirty days from the notified date furnish a declaration to the Tribunal.
(vi)(a) Special Provisions for Protected Tenants : When holding of any owner includes land held by a
protected tenant, tribunal to determine whether it is transferred to protected tenant U/s 38-E of Andhra
Pradesh (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1950. If so, extent of land transferred to be
excluded from the holding of such owner and included in the holding of such tenant (Refer Section 13).

(vii) Determination of Ceiling Area: The Tribunal has to publish the declaration make an enquiry and
pass orders, determining whether the person holds land in excess of the ceiling area and if so the excess
area vide Section 9.

(viii) Surrender of Land: Person holding land in excess of ceiling limit is liable to surrender the land held
in excess, and the tribunal, after making enquiry pass orders approving the surrender or otherwise vide
section 10.

(ix) As per section 11, the RDO on surrender of the land, has to take possession or authorize any officer
to take possession of the excess land which shall vest in Government free from all encumbrances.

(x) Disposal of Land vested in Government : ÿ Lands vested in government are to be allotted for house
sites for agricultural labourers etc., or transferred to weaker sections dependant on agriculture for
agricultural purposes (Half of total extent to SCs and STs and not less than two thirds of balance extent to
BCs Section 14(1)) ÿ Every allottee/transferee to pay fifty times the land revenue within fifteen years,
subject to a maximum of Rs. 1250 per hectare of wet land and Rs. 375/- per hectare of dry land.
Thereafter, patta is to be granted. ÿ Maximum extent to be allotted for house site five cents – Rule 10(2)
ÿ For agricultural purpose - Ac 2-50 wet or Ac 5-00 Dry – Rule 10(2). 5 ÿ Transferee shall not alienate the
land by sale, gift, lease etc., - Section 14(4).

(xi) Resumption of land in case of violation of conditions: ÿ If the conditions of allotment/transfer are
violated, the RDO shall resume the land after giving an opportunity to the persons affected and making
an enquiry (Section 14-5)

(xii) Declaration of future acquisition: ÿ In respect of acquisition on or after notified date, exceeding
ceiling area declaration is to be furnished vide Section 18.

(xiii) Declaration to be furnished before Registering Officer: Any person presenting a document of
alienation of land before Registering Officer is to furnish a declaration that the holding of transferor does
not exceed the ceiling area, as per Section 19.

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 (xiv) Appeal: Appeal lies to appellate Tribunal within thirty days vide Section 20. (xv) Revision: Revision
lies to the High Court against the orders of the Appellate Tribunal within sixty days as per Section 21 and
Rule 17.

(xvi) Exemptions: Lands held by State and Central Governments, religious, charitable and educational
institutions, local authorities, Government Corporations etc., exempted from provisions of Act (Refer
Section 23).

(xvii) Penalty: Persons who failed to file declarations within the prescribed period liable for
imprisonment upto two years or with fine upto Rs.2000 or with both (Refer Section 24). Prosecution to
be sanctioned by District Collector (Refer Section 24(4)).

(xvii) Act to override other Laws (Section 28).

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